4 ms·

Why is everyone so obsessed with buying a house. Why is that the measure of quality of life to strive towards?

• lkxijlewlf 5y ago
  It would be preferable to own a home in retirement so that if all else goes to shit, you have a roof over your head.
• sjg007 5y ago
  It's basically a hedge against rent and cost of living. In many markets rent is now higher than a mortgage. The goal is you are over a lifetime net-zero in housing cost or maybe make something back. Flippers and builders usually make 30% b/c they have cost advantages.
  • twox2 5y ago
    Is rent really higher than a mortgage though or does that fail to take into consideration things like taxes, HOA, etc.? If rent were higher than a mortgage, wouldn't that suggest that most of the tech folks CAN in fact afford property in these markets?
    • reducesuffering 5y ago
      Rent is usually simultaneously lower than the extras-included mortgage payment but higher than the net worth hit. A Bay Area $1m home might rent for $4k, have a $6k mortgage new, but only drain your net worth $2k. (because of $ towards principal, housing appreciation/inflation, tax deductions, etc.)
    • sjg007 5y ago
      No, not if you don't have the downpayment.
• newaccount2021 5y ago
  nice dodge. why not tackle head-on the brutal reality that even very-well-paid individuals can no longer afford to purchase a dwelling in the same city they work in? we're moving from a 99/1 economy to a 99.99/0.01 economy
  • twox2 5y ago
    It's not a dodge, it's a genuine question. The same tech bro's crying that they can't afford to own a house in SF can comfortably afford the rent, so what's the big deal?
• randomdata 5y ago
  The significant rise in price of housing has left people who own housing a whole lot richer, at least on paper. Those who don't own housing want to also become rich and they see emulation as the way to achieve that. Case in point: Ten years ago I pointed some people living in the higher cost big city complaining about the high cost of housing in the city to a home for sale in a small town for $80,000; something they considered cheap. At the time the prices were stagnant, though. Their response: "Why would I want to own that? That would be awful." A similar home in the same neighbourhood just sold for $436,000 after two days on the market. Now that price is rising, making it look like a way to get rich, everyone suddenly wants to own it. It is still every bit as awful to own the house, but the quest for riches offsets that. Should housing lose its ability to make people rich, interest will quickly wane. People will move on to the next get rich quick scheme.
• s1artibartfast 5y ago
  Some people value security and independence. Owning provides both of these and renting does not.